Turkish rocket when should I harvest it and cook it?

Hi,

I read here: http://www.edibleacres.org/purchase/turkish-rocket that it is edible, but it doesn't say when is the best time to pick it and cook it. Does anybody have any experience with it?
In the image attached you can see the status of my turkish rocket today.

thanks.

Pick them now! :)

Hi Gabriel, I really like picking turkish rocket in the unopened flower bud stage as you would raab or broccoli.   Then I steam them and add a dab of butter and dash of garlic salt.  Mine are not yet to that stage yet so I am envious of yours!

I do not have personal experience with this plant. My wish list far exceeds my purchasing power! :D

But John Kitsteiner of Temperate Climate Permaculture has this to say about it.

   Edible Leaves – Raw or cooked. Can be used like Kale or Collard Greens. Young leaves are best for eating raw. Leaves can be “hairy”, and some people say they are “indigestable”, but I have not experienced that. When raw, they have a pungent, mustardy-broccoli flavor. They can be finely chopped and added to salads to add a bit of “bite” to the salad. Many people prefer them cooked – they are quite good and a bit more mild. Larger leaves are almost always cooked. I don’t mind them either way, but I also like strongly flavored vegetables.
   Edible Stems – Raw or cooked. Mainly the very young and thin stems. Can be cooked along with the leaves or trimmed and cooked on their own.
   Edible Shoots – Used when young. Raw or cooked, but usually cooked.
   Edible Flowers and Flowering Stems – Used like broccoli (I’ve seen it dubbed “Rockoli”), but with smaller florets… closer to a broccolini or broccoli raab (rapini).

Joylynn, this is one of those great perennial vegetables you can plant from seed.  Quite a few places have them now, one of them is Fedco Seeds here in Maine.  They mention my friend Aaron Parker and he sells them at his nursery Edgewood Nursery as both seeds and plants and has very decent prices.  I think Aaron might be a member here.  If I don't eat every last floret and I can remember I may be able to get you some seeds.

I like in Fedco's description them using the florets in stir fries....must do that!  The mature leaves are more than I can handle, even when cooked, but perhaps would be good in a mixed dish to make it interesting.  Personally I need to even cook the young leaves.

I just noticed that Aaron has packs for $2.50 and bare root small plants for $4.  Reading his description he seems to be on the same page as me regarding use.  Maybe we both just need some good recipes for the leaves :)

I have two plants about a year old. They bloomed and now seem to be dying like a biannual. Think they are supposed to be perennial. Maybe they are just drying up above ground and will come back from the roots?  I didn’t harvest any yet, so they should have a lot of seeds. Tasted a few buds raw. Not great but might be good cooked. A few raw in a salad would probably be OK.

I wonder whether Ken's rocket came back? Mine is pretty reliably perennial and is tending to seed around a bit. I'm thinking that in the wrong area this could be a nuisance as the plant has a large tap root like a dandelion. At least the seeds don't have parachutes! I haven't tried eating the leave as yet, but got on fairly well with the flower shoots - just steamed or fried in butter. I thought they were quite strong flavoured, not hot, just distinctive, but they passed the 'husband test'
My plants are just coming to the stage for harvesting this year. By eating the flowers, I'll have less seeding around, win-win!

I planted two of these at my moms house, and last time I was there one of the was in full flower.
They didn't look like these florets so I pulled them of, hoping to persuade the plant to grow more greens..

I went back and checked on the rocket at moms house.
The flowers are very different to my eye.
Are there two very different plants that goes by the same name?
The leaf itself is tasty, so I decided to allow it to self seed.

I think what you have there is a sort of salad rocket William. My Turkish rocket has yellow flowers.

There are a few things called rocket - these are the most common:

wild rocket: Diplotaxis tenuifolia

Wild rocket: a perennial salad plant with spicy leaves.

annual salad rocket: Eruca sativa

salad rocket: an annual salad plant with spicy leaves.

I think they are all in the Brassica family, but different hardiness and growth habits. As yours has white flowers I guess it is the annual one. It may seed around for you, but unlikely to come back as a perennial I'm afraid.

Turkish rocket: mine in previous years in flower:

Thank you Nancy, that is very helpful!